Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. London, 1833. A legendary actor falls ill while playing Othello. To save the show, the producer hands the role to Ira Aldridge, an African-American actor pursuing a career that is closed to him back home. How will the cast, public, and London critics react? How will history record the revolution taking place in the theatre? In this new, critically acclaimed biographical play, the Shakespearean actor from New York is remembered for his achievements on the bittersweet road to international superstardom 150 years ago.

Red Velvet takes you backstage to witness the drama as Aldridge prepares for his history-making performance of Othello in London. Based on the life of the theatre trailblazer, the award-winning Red Velvet is making its Baltimore debut after wildly popular productions in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and London.

“Gripping, intelligent, and passionate” – The Financial Times (London).

“Red Velvet” is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

PHOTO: Christian R. Gibbs as Ira Aldridge. Photo by Shealyn Jae.

MEET THE CAST: Click here to learn about the play and its characters, who are based on real figures from British theatre of the 1800s.

SPECIAL EVENTS: Bring a friend! Party with STYLE. Enjoy an exhibit. There’s more fun in store, including Baltimore STYLE’s Red Carpet at Red Velvet premiere party; First Thursday with pop-up performances at The Walters; Ira’s Shakespeare Dream, an exhibition featuring the work of the award-winning children’s book illustrator Floyd Cooper at the Enoch Pratt Free Library; and much, much more.

NEW! Weekday matinees include a question-and-answer session with the actors following the play. These are full professional productions, with an intermission. We seat school groups at the 10am weekday matinees. We welcome the public at these performances as well. Group seating areas are assigned by the Box Office; all public tickets are general admission.

TICKETS:

General admission tickets are only $25. Use the BUY TICKETS button above to make an online purchase or call the Box Office at 410.244.8570 (regular hours Tuesday-Friday, 11am-3pm. On matinee mornings, the Box Office will open at 9:30am.)

Group sales: We welcome groups from senior communities, conventions, tours, corporations, associations and clubs, etc. Advance reservation is required for all groups of 10 or more to ensure seating availability. Theatre capacity: 266 seats. To reserve tickets for a group, please call Liz Nelson in the Box Office at 410.244.8570 or send an email to BoxOffice@ChesapeakeShakespeare.com.

Downtown parking: FOR THIS PERFORMANCE ONLY: For weekday matinees, we recommend using the $12 valet parking at our business partner, The QG, on Water Street at Calvert Street, opening at 9:30am.

Public garages nearby include Arrow Parking, at the corner of Calvert and Lombard, with entrances on Lombard Street and Water Street: Park before 9:30am to get the earlybird best rate. (NOTE: CSC parking vouchers are not valid on weekday mornings; please use our vouchers only for evenings and weekends.)

There are also garages on Water, South, and Baltimore streets. There are parking meters on surrounding streets: please read the signs and meters carefully (usually $2 per hour, coins or credit cards). No parking allowed on Calvert before 10am.

School bus and group shuttle parking: Please inquire when you book your reservation. You will drop off on Calvert and then move to permitted parking areas.

SAVE NOW on GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS: Buy one, get the second at 25% to 50% off. Who would appreciate tickets to three or four nights on the town? A teacher, a friend, a co-worker, a grandparent…(or maybe you indulge yourself)! See details here.